WR negligence: Iron rods scare passengers at Bandra station

Bandra

In a serious case of negligence by Western Railway contractor, spear-like iron rods have been kept jutting out openly on a railway platform for the past two days at a station like Bandra which is crowded all through the day. This also shows that station works are not monitored by railway officials who just tend to sit in their cabins.

While commuters dodge the rods with an ace as they get down from the trains and rush up the foot over bridge, one wrong step and it could seriously hurt or even kill anyone.

"These are basics. Are commuters supposed to complain and follow up? These are in this state for the past two days. How is it that none of the station officials, RPF or anyone else has seen this and took proactive action? What do railways' field officials do?" Anagha Raje, who works at Kala Nagar, Bandra questioned.

The contractor has put up a board stating that he is doing work for platform cover at all stations between Marine Lines and Khar, which means more stations are in danger zone. The rods were originally put up to instal a safety barricade, which was removed two days ago, but the rods left intact.

"This is common sense and has basic sensitivity to the station and commuter safety dead? This is more dangerous as it seems no one from the railways is monitoring this. Everything seems to be in auto-pilot mode. It is surprising that there is no one to question such errant contractors," said Shailesh Goyal, member of Western Railway's Zonal Consultative Committee, the official passenger representative body on WR.

Western Railway chief public relations officer Ravinder Bhakar said that the rods had been put up for safety barricades and would be removed immediately.

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